Insights

I'm a firm believer in the "KISS" methodology: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

From the start, rap music has been the underdog. First enjoyed only by a small segment of the population, no music genre ever spread so quickly to cross barriers or race, country and class so quickly. I believe there is a simply reason for this: Rap is emotional and raw, always driving for an expanded audience through an unabashed desire for high sales volume.

The bond market seems to be screaming in favor of "bad medicine" in the form of higher interest rates.

Over the last two weeks, the 10-year yields have risen close to 30 basis points. The latest burst came after Friday's employment figure release showed an additional 162,000 workers added to payrolls last month.

In recent weeks we have seen interest rates on the rise some 20 percent or more! Of course, that’s only about 20 basis points in the front end, but many believe this indicates a market gearing up for interest rate increases.

I had the typical childhood growing up, including time with most of the classic fairy tales. However, I never read Alice in Wonderland, nor did I see any film versions until just this past weekend.

Planning out your actions is always good advice. However, when opposing parties get to react with free will, which they always do, plans beyond step one are rarely the correct course. This Yiddish proverb says it best: Man plans, God laughs.

In the 1987 movie Wall Street, up-and-coming young stock broker Bud Fox calmly provides a counter bid for his premium penthouse apartment by saying "Offer 950."

The Fed should begin raising interest rates in earnest in early 2011, once consumers have some vision of and confidence in both their wealth and job prospects. At that point, the Fed should aggressively raise rates more than one 75 basis point hike. See Joe Morgan's and Jim Anderson's Point / Counterpoint